Routt County Allocates $3 Million to Protect Nottingham Ranch

Steamboat Springs —"Massive fundraising effort."

Molly Fales, staff attorney with the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, used that phrase to describe what happened after Routt County commissioners unanimously approved allocating $3 million from the Purchase of Development Rights Open Space Fund. The money buys a conservation easement on Nottingham Ranch. It permanently protects roughly 17,300 acres of land across Routt and Eagle counties.

The vote happened Tuesday at the commissioners’ regular meeting. The cost is $350 per acre. That’s a bargain for land that includes over 8,300 acres in Routt County alone.

Tim Wohlgenant, Vice Chair of the Purchase of Development Rights Advisory Board, called it "one of the largest and most significant conservation projects" the program has considered in its nearly 30-year history. He told the board the advisory committee voted unanimously to recommend approval.

Here is what that land actually does. Nottingham Ranch produces around 3,000 tons of hay per year. It supports about 1,200 cow-calf pairs. The operation is backed by senior water rights dating to the late 19th century. In a region where water is currency, those senior rights matter more than the grass beneath them.

According to a county staff report, the easement prevents future fragmentation and development. It protects productive agricultural lands, key water resources, critical wildlife habitat, migration corridors, riparian areas, and the open-space landscapes of South Routt County.

Wohlgenant clarified a detail that matters to taxpayers: no county funds go toward transaction costs. All $3 million goes directly into the easement purchase.

The Nottingham family has been in this game since the 1800s. Susan Nottingham and her parents launched the current operation in the Burns area in 1982. In four decades, she has assembled a landscape-scale operation that stands as a bedrock of the local ranching community. Today, the ranch connects conserved private lands with nearby public lands.

Fales noted that Routt County was the first funder to commit money. "That was hugely helpful to kick off what has been a massive fundraising effort," she said.

Read that again. The county’s $3 million is the first check in a stack of checks. It equals 30% of the Routt County portion’s value and 9.1% of the overall project value. That means there is still a lot of money to be raised for the rest of the 17,300 acres.

Other funders include the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The list of backers is long, but the county’s early commitment set the pace.

The short version: The land stays a ranch. It won’t become a subdivision. It won’t be chopped into smaller parcels for development. The water stays with the land. The wildlife corridors stay open.

For folks in the valley, this locks down a critical piece of South Routt County’s rural character. It ensures that one of Northwest Colorado’s largest intact working ranches remains a working entity, not a museum piece or a housing development.

The commissioners didn’t just vote for open space. They voted for agricultural continuity.

Susan Nottingham’s operation is efficient. It works the land. It pays its way in water rights and hay production. The easement ensures that efficiency survives the next generation of market pressures.

The project is now in motion with multiple federal and state partners on board. The county has done its part of the financial lift for its share of the acres.

The question isn't whether the land will be developed. It won't. The question is how quickly the remaining 90% of the funding for the full easement comes together.

Fales said the county's support was "hugely helpful." She didn't say it was enough.